Children of Mine
by Solitary Shadow
Summary: Exploration piece for ten characters, with Pango narrating. Oneshot. No pairings, just narratives.


**Disclaimer:** Pango is property of Namco

**Author's Note:** Well. I've written my second Pango fic. It's set in an AU universe, but to be honest it's actually closer to Heroes universe than any others. I incorporated many characters here.

This piece is an exploration for ten characters in the Klonoa fandom. I was inspired by Franz Kafka, again, and I tried to write more seriously in the narrative verse. I hope you like it.

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My name is Pango. I am forty-eight years old. I am a widower, and I live in Volk City, Lunatea. I am a bomb expert, and I have assisted many for years now.

There are many people around me. Most get on with their everyday lives and I respect that very much indeed. But as for children and teenagers who I have met and have played a large part in my life - I consider them to be my own, almost, as they are nearly always without parents of their own. Much of my recent years have been spent looking after them all, and that makes me very happy, because I can give them the proper care they deserve. They regard me as a father, I regard them as my family, and all is well.

In that sense, I have ten children.

My first child would be Boris, my own son. He is ten years old. One can look at him and remark that he is sweet and innocent; yet with the death of his mother, Boris has become withdrawn and quiet when at home. He does not fully understand death - one cannot blame him for that, for he is still very young. He is skilled with making various things, intelligent, gentle, very creative and ahead of his age for a small child; yet although I rate him like no other, I cannot help but be concerned with his well-being. Boris has been quite severely ill many times, and he appears to be mentally suffering at all occasions. It is not something I can help him with, and that saddens me, for I am his father and I am responsible for everything that happens to him. He either depends on me a lot and clings to me, or he is withdrawn and moody, locked up inside himself. It breaks my heart to see such a young boy in that state. I love him very much, but sometimes my own care and the extent I'm willing to go to just to protect him escapes his mind. That I find rather underwhelming.

My second child would be Klonoa. He is thirteen years old. He is both externally and internally gifted, clever and outgoing; yet although I care and love him very much, I do not rate him too highly. His mental processes and way of thinking seems to be too naive for me. As a young child that is understandable; but a boy thirteen years of age being _that_ naive is beyond me. He is optimistic, yet almost too much. He thinks simply and directly, thinking ahead of the present and to the future, learning well from his past. But to me, he does not think enough of the present times and can get lost easily. Klonoa is not guilible, far from it, but he can be rash sometimes. He is fast and skilled in fighting and good at using tactics. He looks neither to the right, nor to the left and looks far ahead; but within himself he runs around in circles, looking for a way out, or stays revolving inside his circle of thoughts. As a Dream Traveller, he cares too little for himself and cares more for people around him, and it is about time he started looking after himself more.

The third is Guntz. He is sixteen years old. Partnered with Klonoa, he is handsome, slim and well-made. One draws one's breath with delight to watch him in combat, or running, or just standing with the wind whipping around his face. He has extensive knowledge of the world, for he has travelled many times; Breezegale, although just a simple safe village, draws his attention very much, as he says that it is unlike the stereotypical village in Lunatea. He is mature for his age, perhaps _too_ mature; his eyes have seen too much, too young, and it is visible. As an extreme pessimist he looks very negatively at the world around him, caring little for the people who pass him by in his life. He shows care for his loved ones, yes, and for his friends; but that care only can extend to that much. He approaches the challenges ahead with courage, almost with certain violent self-control; but at the end, he stops, turns away, and starts making excuses for himself and himself alone. I, his unofficial guardian, find this trait very frustrating. There seems to be some kind of a stray poison within him, something that awakens unstoppable melancholy inside his mind, and nobody can stop it.

The fourth is Lolo. She is a pretty young thing of twelve, innocent and sweet, but there is a deep oblivion inside her mind. With this she blocks out everything that hurts her. As a previously abused girl, that is understandable; yes, understandable, but she is much too withdrawn within herself at all times. She listens closely to anything, but once anything sounds offensive to her, she turns away and cannot face it at all. She is weak both in mind and physique, and that is unfortunate. She has had her heart broken many a time, and this made her wary and frightened of the world. There is so much she does not know, does not want to know, will never know, because she herself rejects it all. Lolo is a praiseworthy young girl, but she personally thinks she is undeserving of such praise, and therefore flinches away from anything even remotely close to it. Her lack of confidence is the sole one thing that blocks her progress, and there is little that one can do to stop that. She is considerably less naive than Klonoa, but she is often depressed and ill, and no one can help her out of it.

The fifth child is Chipple, thirteen years old. He, like Lolo, lacks confidence, but on a much larger scale. In a way he is worse; as he tries something and then gives it up entirely, regardless of whether he is good at it or not. He is kind and good, promises less than he performs, and a gentle lad. He has a dream, a goal he wants to work towards, but he has no idea how to get there, and he firmly refuses any help. I believe that unlike the others, he can be helped well, but he himself refuses help, because he believes that it makes him weak. He insists on bearing all burdens himself, when he does not have the key to solving everything that comes his way. His efforts are brilliant, and he is a wonderful example of a hardworking teenager, but I feel uncomfortable whenever he gets praised. He takes compliments well - it is just that I wonder if he has worked truly hard enough to deserve that particular one. He relies too much on the words of his elders; and that makes him vulnerable, as he cannot take criticism.

The sixth is Leorina. She has come of age, at sixteen years old. She is mature enough, and perhaps the most perfectly balanced of all the others if only her elements are considered. She is unemotional, and shows little feeling normally, but then she swings wildly between a normal, thoughtful woman and a paranoid, emotional girl. Those changes are unexpected, and she can go from calm to wild in less than a second. There is this sickness inside her, one should think, that makes her so unstable. She is skilled and intelligent, with knowledge of the sky, but all the while she is so down to earth, that she hardly accomplishes anything fully. When she does, however, her work is exceptional. I am tempted often to bring her into the limelight, but I prefer to keep her in the background. She does not insist, but because of her own innocence rather than the awareness of her own shortcomings. Leorina is never easy to get at, for she is much thoughtful yet talks very well. This strange contrast creates a barrier between her and others, although they are not necessarily aware of it.

The seventh one, Jillius, is my child of sorrow and I do not really know _why_. 'Child' is not an adequate word, as he is the oldest at twenty-one, but he is simply much too _innocent_ for his age. He is serious, clever and thoughtful, but there is a dual side to him that provides surprising contrast to his other side. As his personalities are the polar opposite of each other, he is constantly at war with himself. Jillius perhaps belongs to me more than any others, but he is so melancholy most of the time, and he does not make contact with me often. He rejects all form of communication, for he is a loner - and always will be. I feel a close tie binding me to him, but he keeps me at a distance, because he himself is unsure how to react. As an adult, and being of royalty, he has many responsibilities that he carries out dutifully. That is not his fault, but it only serves to keep him away from others. He talks well, with a soft voice and eloquent manners. One would love to see him, but he does not show himself, and therefore he cannot be judged as easily.

The eighth one is Popka. The companion of Lolo, he has been her protector for three years. He is frequently complaining, grumbling about something for another, yet within that barricade hides a gentle, kind, gruff personality. He identifies closely with me, and follows me often, learning something new every time. I care for him well, although he displays a rather single-sided personality externally. That is one thing he has yet to improve on. He tends not to open up until he is close to whoever concerned, and reacts carelessly. That side of him is not seen to a friend, but he drives away potential allies due to his quite rude nature. It is not something that is permanent; he acknowledges his problem but does little to fix it. My guess is that he is not prepared to change; people never change unless they want to and are ready. Popka is not ready yet, because he, deep inside, does not see the full depth of what his personality can do. He has yet to realize many things, to accept, and he is doing fairly well - but he can always improve.

The ninth child is Tat, an ageless spirit - I estimate her mental age to be around thirteen. She is almost like Klonoa, irrationally happy and optimistic. She serves to balance out Leorina, being her companion. But this time, she is at conflict with herself because her supposed dual personalities are too simillar to each other. She feels that being able to become two incarnations of herself, she should have a different personality for each half. This argument is not entirely without reason, as she sees everything in a very black-and-white light, but it is quite unreasonable if one thinks about it. She wants to develop a different personality, she wants to have another side, but as that cannot be done easily, she is often frustrated. Tat doesn't work when she is unhappy, because that does not suit her at all and she knows it well. Leorina provides well for her, and Tat likes to annoy Popka a lot, but I fear that that may just be because she is insecure herself. Tat needs to stop seeing everything as either dark or light, or right and wrong, as the world never has worked like that.

The tenth and the last would be Huepow. He has two forms, being essentially a spirit; he has never managed to stay in one form for too long, being too indecisive, and that is perhaps his gravest fault. A rather sly character on the outside, but inside he means well, and that is good. Huepow has assisted Klonoa on many occasions, and has done his job well, as his powers and status enable him to be of great help. He loves to help others, but still, if he offered to help me I would still not trust him. Huepow cannot be trusted easily, because he is indecisive, and worse, his bona fide is of some question. He sometimes lies, sometimes sneaks past, and nobody would ever know. He looks at me sometimes, and seemingly says 'Pango, let me help you. Please trust me.'. I reply 'You're the last one I would trust in my life,'. He'll then say 'Then at least let me the last, Pango, for I wish to prove myself.' His determination remains unchallenged, but I fear nothing would come of it. Huepow is a happy child, but I feel he is deceptive, and I have no idea what else he may be hiding.

Those are my ten children.

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Ironically, the narrator himself, Pango, is never explored in detail. I noticed that now. x.x

No jokes about taking the 'my children' bit literally, please. Did you like it?


End file.
